YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

Itorse, William.
Oration, delivered before the citizens of Nantucicet,^^^
Boston,1829.

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MR. MORSE'S ORATION,
' PELIVERiEB BEFORE THE
' : . '¦¦.i-Cl'mZ^NS or ]VA:Pr.TUCKET,

ORATION,

DKHVEKKD BEFORE THE

CITIZENS OF NAFTUCKET,

id ^@!Sg/a

EKING THS

FIFTY^THIKD AJ^JflVERSARY

muUvutimi Of tJje Kn5rejjenJfewce

THE UNITED STATES OF AJHERICA.

BY WIIiMAM MORSE,
PA8T0R OP THE FIRST UNITERSALIST CHURCH, NANTUCKET.

BOSTON ;
PRESS OF PUTNAM & HUN T.

I8S9.

Nantucket, July 11, 1829.
Rev. William Morse :
Dear Sir — At a meeting of the Committee of Arrangements for the cel
ebration of the Fourth of July, it vpas voted that Messrs. Aaron Mitchell,
John Thornton, and Robert F. Parker, present to you the thanks of that
committee, in behalf of their fellovp-tovpnsmen, for the Oration delivered by
yoH on the recent Anniversary of our National Independence, and to request a
copy of the same for the press. Attest, ROBERT F. PARKER, Secretary.
In accordance with the above vote, we individually tender yon our lincere
thanks, and desire you will comply with the request therein contained.
Yours, Ifc.
AARON MITCHELL, )
JOHN THORNTON, V Committee.
ROBERT F. PARKER, S

Gentlemen :
I have received your note ofthe llth inst. requesting a copy of my Ora
tion, delivered on the day of our Nation's late Anniversary, for the press.
Relying on your candour in making this request, as proof, that in your
opinion, the Discourse may possibly tend in some degree to the better under
standing of our civil and religious rights in this country, I herewith furnish you
the manuscript, which is at your disposal.
With sentiments of esteem, I am
Yours, vary respectfully,
WILLIAM MORSE.
Messrs. Aaron Mitchell, ^
John Thornton, > Committee.
Robert F. Parker, j
J^antucket, July 14, 1829.

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ORATION.

Friends and fellow citizens, —
The nation's jubilee is the day we have convened to
celebrate ; a day which leads us to the contemplation of
principles, and awakens recollections, dear, very dear to
the interests of millions — it is an anniversary which, in a
sense, gave birth to Liberty ; a name, the slightest mention
of which, is music to the ear ofevery true American.
If any individual in this assembly has ever felt a spirit of
party agitating his bosom, I hope and trust that that spirit
fled from him, previously to stepping his foot upon the
threshold of this house ; and that every one present feels
to rejoice in the conviction of having met on this joyous
occasion, his brothers and friends, — America's free-born
sons. ¦ I trust that the principles furnishing motives for our pre
sent assembling, are such principles as lay near the heart of
every friend of freedom, every defender of equal rights,
and every philanthropist, without regard to rank, sect or
nation ; and what is still more, they are such, I believe, as
righteous Heaven approves.
In the blessings of civil and religious liberty by which
our country is so highly distinguished, every friend of the
human species can feel to participate ; — can feel to mingle

gratitude to God for the various benefits which have al
ready resulted to the citizens of these United States, as the
effects of liberty, and unite with the benevolent and good
of every clime, in offering up to Heaven the most sincere
and devout orisons for the extension and continuance of
these blessings to the latest periods of time.
The shortness of the time allotted to prepare for the fes
tivities of this day, and other circumstances connected with
our present meeting, forbid my attempting a logical dis
cussion concerning the excellence of our free institutions,
or treating largely of the wise adaptation, to the nature and
condition of human beings, of those principles contained in
that sacred charter of our rights, the " Declaration of In
dependence," just read in your hearing.
Arguments intended to confirm the minds of this en
lightened auditory in the belief that liberty is more promo
tive of the happiness of its subjects than tyranny, would be
as needless, as would be the attempt to convince a good
and upright man, that virtue possesses moral beauty, rather
than vice ; or, the attempt to produce conviction in the
philosopher's mind, that knowledge should be more high
ly prized than ignorance.
I shall pass over the long catalogue of crimes and woes
which marks the history of mankind — the rise and fall of
states and empires, the venality, corruption and cruelty of
the kings of the Old World, their elevation by intrigue,
their abuse of usurped authority and their sudden over
throw ; — the ignorance, vassalage and misery of their sub
jects, and hasten down to the eventful period, when our
forefathers first cast a wishful look to this country, then a
dense " howling wilderness," a land where the Tiger and
the Lion fiercely contended with the red men ofthe woods,
the worshippers of the "Great Spirit," for supreme and
undisturbed dominion.
The first question which the nature of the subject seems
to suggest, is, What inducement was furnished that veteran
little band, sufficient to effect their separation from home
and friends, and stimulate them to bid an everlasting fare
well to the land of their fathers, and to turn their backs for
ever upon " England's fast anchored isle .-"'
The proper answer to this question is, — iDretchedness al
home ; this, and this only, could have incited those fearless,
determined spirits, to embark in so bold and hazardous an

undertaking as that of trusting fortune, friends, life, to the
mercy of the storm, to the angry surges of the wide Atlan
tic. "They plunged into the wave, with the great charter of
freedom in their teeth, because the faggot and the torch
were behind them."
To encourage them in their noble enterprise, was the
just dread they felt of continuing to wear the galling yoke
of civil and ecclesiastical despotism, and being fearful like
wise that their children might be mercilessly compelled to
wear every chain, forged for them, by the arbitrary family
of Stuarts ; circumstances like these combined, eventually
severed the tie which bound them to their native country.
United with the above considerations was the fact, that a
prospect was afforded them in this New World for the es
tablishment of liberty for themselves and their posterity.
The prospect of gaining an asylum even among the rude
and savage tribes of the West, and of taking up their abode
on the bank of some majestic river, or, at the foot of some
lofty mountain, in a land where tj'ranny systematized, re
duced to a science, had never existed, nerved their arms
and encouraged their hearts ; while Hope, as a torch borne
in the hand of some kind angel, lighted them across the
trackless waters to the now consecrated rock of Plymouth.
At this perilous hour, when before them their only view
was an immense wilderness, and behind, was nothing save
the cloud-skirted deep — suffering beneath the pelting, piti
less storms of December, when surrounded with these and
many other disheartening, appalling circumstances, what
but a dread of slavery at home, united with a belief that
freedom is man's inalienable right, that human suffering in
the cause of human happiness will meet the smile of ap
proving Heaven, could have fortified their minds against
the ruinous approach of depression and despair .-'
But the dangers oftheir new residence, and the labors at
tendant on the cultivation ofa yet uncultivated soil, were
not all the hardships to which their thirst for freedom and
their temerity had exposed them. It was not alone the
fear of an unforgiving and savage foe, against whose inhu
man encroachments they felt the necessity of guarding,
which agitated their bosoms and planted thorns in their
path. No ! the half which constituted their unhappiness

6
has not been told you ; the cause of much of their infelici
ty originated, not in the cruelty ofthe savage, but in the
avarice, connected with the love of power, (a love which is
by no means exotic from human nature,) of an old, civilized,
yet warlike nation.
Notwithstanding the repeated petitions and remonstrances
of these then infant colonists, which were addressed to a
country claiming to be their mother, (though acting the
part of a cruel step-mother,) yet Britain, haughty, aspiring
Britain, continued making her exorbitant exactions upon
the lean revenue of the colonies, and multiplying her inju
ries, until this weak and afflicted people saw no means for
redress, except that of commencing open hostilities with
their oppressors.
Surely, it was the fervent glow of liberty filling their
bosoms, which gave courage to this weak, oppressed and
insulted people, to leave the plough, and put on the armor
of battle to contend with a nation deemed invincible in war,
a nation schooled in all the arts of human butchery, the ac
knowledged "regent of ides and the mistress of oceans."
The inhabitants of this country by adopting this measure
knew not whether they should meet death on the scaffold
or in the field of battle. But rather than be subjected to
groan under the manacles of slavery which they saw pre
paring for them beyond the ocean, they trusted their lives
to the righteousness of their cause and the mercy of Heaven.
Coming down to the period of the American Revolution,
it will be unnecessary for me to enter into detail concerning
its events ; they are well known, and are familiar to many
present; I therefore will not detain j-ou at this time, to re
count to you the deeds of valor, the deeds of liigh and no
ble daring, which marked the struggle of Americans for
liberty. Roused by a sudden impulse, the eflects of which
circulated with the rapidity of electric fire, the Americans
said with a mighty voice — (a voice which one day will, we
trust, be as a terrible thunderbolt to the ears of tyrants) "we
are not born to be enslaved by the corrupt governments of
the trans-atlantic world." Though deeply regretting the
necessity of war, and appealing to "the Supreme Judge of
the Universe for the rectitude of their intentions," they
" pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred hon
or," in defence oftheir dearest rights.

That they were sincere in their professions — that they
fought like men fighting for liberty, and not like the vassals
of some cruel despot, let that awful period attest when the
infamous Pit cairn reproachfully exclaimed, " Disperse, re
bels," and Lexington's verdant fields were made red with
the patriot's blood !
Though sad indeed must be the sons of freedom when
reverting to those trvingc scenes through which their fa-
tilers, struggling for liberty were called to pass, yet memo
ry delights to linger on such deeds of nobleness and patri
otism as marked the steps of a Washington, — tiiat deathless
name ! for though dead, he yet speaketh and liveth in the
hearts of millions, and will live in the hearts of countless
generations to come.
From the volumes of smoke and tire ascending frora
Bunker's Hill, crimsoned with the blood of a thousand of
the enemy's troops, I might follow with you this little band
of determined patriots through their various calamities,
during a protracted, bloody and awful contest ; and speak
of their being defeated at Long Island, of their subsequent
ly being driven from forts Washington and Lee, and like
wise of their repeatedly " turning on their insulting foe,
and mingling their blood with the melting lava of the can
non's mouth," foretelling them of Trenton, Germantown
and Monmouth. I might also attempt a description oftheir
sufferings during the winter of '76, that darkest season of
the Revolution ; yea, I might come down to a later period,
and relate to you the story of Plattsburgh, Niagara, and of
New Orleans, to prove, if I may so speak, the vincibleness-
of " British invincibility !"
But the events, the battles and victories of the last war,
which thousands honestly believe passed away without tar
nishing our nation's glory, but not witliout adding to her
dignity and her laurels, are yet fresh in your memories, and
therefore need not be described at this time. When I look
around me at the present moment, I trust I can select here
and there one, whose snowy locks, whose furrowed cheek,
and whose tottering frame admonish him, that he is alrea
dy entering the door of that " house appointed for all the liv
ing;" who fifty years ago, had not recovered from the
toils and sufferings endured in the Revolutionary contest —
endured in the cause of rational liberty, a cause which

8
though its defence required numbers to pass through seas
of blood, resulted in the country's victory and glory !
¦ Venerated fathers ! the language of your youthful ser
vant would fail to describe your emotions at a period,
when your minds were poising between hope and despair,
when you knew not whether you should leave freedom as a
legacy to your children, whether by hereditary succession
your children might thereafter be subjected (at least nomi
nally,) to the rule of some " ideot king !" We cheerfully ac
knowledge the immense debt of gratitude which is your
due — the brilliant exploits of those who aided in effecting
the salvation of America from the encroachments of arbi
trary power, and consequent misery, are recorded on the
faithful page of history — they have likewise left an indeli
ble impression on the hearts of their children.
At a period when Grecian and Roman republics, (if re
publics they really were,) had crumbled and scattered, and
liberty herself seemed as if she were about to depart from
the earth, the then thirteen United States declared them
selves free and independent, asserting thereby the right of
self-government. It is true, "that on the islands of the A-
driatic, the mountains of Biscay, and the rocks of Uri, the
spirit of liberty had indeed successfully sought a refuge ;
but driven at last from all that could delight her on earth,
she had already flapped her wings on the glaciers of Swit
zerland, and was taking her flight towards heaven : the
Americans rose — they burst their fetters — they hurled them
at their oppressors — they shouted they were free. The
sound broke across the Atlantic — it shook the fog-wrapt
Island of Britain and re-echoed along the Alps. The as
cending spirit heard it ; she recognized in it the voice of
her elect, and holding her course westward, she rejoicing
saw her incense rise from a thousand altars. Her presence
assured our triumph."
The event ofthe American Revolution, in other words,
the achievement of American liberty, viewed in relation to
the price which it cost, the blessings it is now conferring
on twelve millions of enlightened freemen, and with respect
to its future effects upon the political, intellectual and moral
condition of the human species, is doubtless an event,
if we except the birth of the son of God, which, for import
ance, stands unparalleled in the annals of the world.

9
In view then of the amount sacrificed, the number of lives
lost, the tears shed and sufferings endured in the cause of
rational liberty, it becomes us to whom has been committed
this invaluable inheritance, to inquire, in what way shall
we hand down the exalted privileges attendant on political
and religious liberty to posterity unimpaired .''
Twenty four sovereign and independent states have little
to fear from without ; for the combined powers of the
world, while unanimity is preserved among us, could not
probably wrest from us the blessings of liberty — ^let us then
forget not the adage — " United we stand ; divided we
FALL." If there be any thing which endangers the liberty
of this country, or which retards the growth of genuine
republican principles, and the prosperity of our free insti
tutions, this danger is at home ; it is within, among our
selves. I will not assert that our liberty is really in danger;
but I will mention what in my opinion constitute a few of
the elements of despotism, which elements may possibly
one day, (God in mercy forbid !) jeopardize the Uberties of
this Republic.
Ignorance is the first I will name. Intelligence is the life
of liberty — there is no slavery comparable to the slavery of
the mind, " God's highest work, his mirror and representa
tive." The mind of man seems designed by the Creator for
endless progression in light and knowledge, and no tyrant
is so tyrannical, no man so deservedly execrable in view of
. all benevolent beings in the Universe, as he whose object it
is to rivet upon his fellow-man the chains of mental slavery;
for this being effected, tame submission and inevitable mis
ery succeed.
It is the power and activity of thought, which have sunder
ed the strongest cords of despotism ; it has, therefore, ever
been the work of the enemies of mankind, to check the pro
gress of thought. To the designing and aspiring of all ranks,
it is well known that the omnipotence of thought, has caus
ed thrones to totter, tyrants to tremble, and " kings to turn
pale." The proper education of youth, will the more effectu
ally promote the progress of thought, or the enlargement
of the mind, and open the door to future improvement in
the science of government, which even in this country, will
yet admit of being improved.
2

10
To the youth of our land will soon be committed the
high trust of defending our liberty, of directing the helm
of government, and of improving upon the plans of their
predecessors. Suffer one generation only to rise up in our
land, uneducated, and uninitiated in the principles of our
elective form of government ; I say let but one generation
like this, become legislators, and the dispensers of laws to
the American people, and awful, indeed, might be the con
sequences to our beloved country.
That person furnishes the strongest evidence of his attach
ment to freedom's cause, who shows himself the great
est friend to the education of youth. The founder of an
institution for the instruction of youth, is ever worthy to
be ranked among the greatest benefactors of the human race,
and if the present age do not award to such, the merited
meed of praise, future generations will rise up and call him
blessed. On this very spot, my friends, on your own dearly lov
ed Island-home, by the munificence of a distinguished indi
vidual,* only three years since, by the liberality of one
man, how powerful the impulse which has been given to
the subject of learning ! Already are its beneficial effects
realized in this community — already do we hear persons
middle-aged, and aged, almost daily regretting that the
privileges for obtaining an education vrhich now exist, had
not existed in their youthful days. Who can estimate the
advantages which will result to the people of this town,
during the next twenty years, from the increased attention
to public schools ? How much better will individual rights
be understood, and regarded in this, and every other com
munity, large or small, as learning and knowledge extend
their purifying and elevating influence ! A comparison of
the present wilh the past, will greatly assist in making the
estimate. Nothing can more delight the consistent friend
of liberty, than the augmentation of schools, academies, and
colleges in this country — although many improvements
have already been effected in the various modes and sys
tems for the instruction of youth, others, doubtless, can yet
be made. Neglect the education of youth, and Americans
may be sure of an aristocracy in some form or other ; for it
* Admiral Sir Isaac CofRn.

11
is only before the light of science, that ignorance, vice, and
despotic power recede.
I have been thus particular and urgent to enforce the ne
cessity of educating the youth of this country, so indispens
able in the " representative system," for several reasons, be
sides the important one, that knowledge benefits the indi
vidual possessor.
Liberal and enlightened views in regard to all existing re
lations, are necssary to our safety — in a word, it is know
ledge, which constitutes the surest antidote, against the in
trigues of designing demagogues — against the spirit of party,
merely for the sake of party. An alarming specimen of this
spirit, was afforded in the late presidential contest ; it was
like an unfailing fountain, from which persons of every po
litical creed drank too copiously, for either the dignity or
happiness of the nation. Party spirit, purely so, is of a
character too undignified, too prolific of evils, too reckless
of consequences, to be indulged either with credit to the
possessor or safety to the Union.
Knowledge is likewise equally a safeguard against danger
from another quarter — a spirit exists in this country, not
less unfriendly to the character ofour republican institutions,
than the efforts of party-politicians. I now allude to the
influence of theological tyrants. It is possible we have
less religious liberty in this country, than what some of us
imagine. In what I am now about to state, I wholly dis
claim being influenced by a spirit of sectarism; but standing
here this day as a sentinel upon the watch-tower of liberty,
prompted as I have been, and hope I may be, purely by
love for my country — may heaven forbid that either fear,
or hope of reward, should influence me to deviate from
that straight line of duty, in which I believe my country's
good requires me to walk.
The human mind never conceived a nobler thought, nor
the heart of man a purer sentiment than the contents of
that article embraced in our excellent constitution, which
says that " Congress shall make no law respecting an estab
lishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise there
of." This is an article, almost, if not entirely unique ; yet
there was never one fraught with greater wisdom.
Had such an article as this been adopted as a fundamental
law among the nations of the eastern continent, centuries

12
ago, how many thousands, yea, millions of lives might have
been saved, which, through disregard of such a principle as
this article contains, have been sacrificed to the blind de
mon, bigotry. Theological tyrants are always studying to
extend their influence by seeking alliance with the civil
power, and debasing the human mind, in order to accom
plish their ends. In these days, we hear of rallying " a
Christian party in politics ;" we also hear, in substance, that
" no man is to be eligible to any civil ofiice, who does not
subscribe to the doctrines ofthe five prevailing sects."
What would liberty be, or the right of suffrage but a
name to such as belonged not to the union, if five of the most
popular, religious sects in this country should unite, and
succeed in getting the reins of government into their own
hands .'' Let the papal usurpations of Europe and South
America furnish the answer.
Go back to the cruel and cowardly massacre of the Pro
testants of France, under Charles the Ninth, or to the Eng
lish act of uniformity, which consigned 2000 oftheir best
men to degradation, and some of them to poverty and death.
" Richelieu Zimenes, Mazarin, were the firmest supporters of
despotism. Loyola founded a sect, whose avowed purpose
was, to govern all the thrones of Europe, and to degrade
their subjects into slaves. What was the object .'' To pro
mote the power ofthe sovereign, and the welfare of the
state .'' No — to tyrannise over both. What has impeded
the efforts of the Spanish nation to redeem their character
and their rights ? The clergy, an unprincipled and domin
eering clergy. What encouraged Don Miguel to overthrow
the liberal constitution of Portugal .' The clergy. What
has been the bane of the South American States, since they
have thrown off the Spanish yoke .' An ambitious body of
clergy." If hypocrisy, corruption and misery, have been
the trophies, the memorials of a union of church and state
in all ages and countries where such an unholy union has
existed, we pray God in mercy to preserve this republic
from the establishment of a national religion. Let that re
ligious creed, which cannot stand, unaided by the civil arm,
speedily fall to the ground. On this momentous subject,
of guarding against the Upas of religious despotism, I would
say to Americans, Beware ! Such principles as those con
tained in Col. Johnson's Report (an instrument worthy to
be preserved in company wijth the " Declaration of Inde-

13
pendence," in every hamlet and cottage in the Union, as long
as liberty shall be dear to man,) that Report of last winter,
on the subject of " Sabbath mails," cannot be too well un
derstood, too highly valued, nor too strictly regarded.
We are told in that Report what we have just seen is a
fact, that our Constitution has wisely withheld from our gov
ernment the power of defining the Divine Law ; and fur
ther, that "It is a right reserved to each citizen," (i. e.
to judge for himself) " and while he respects the equal
rights of others, he cannot be held amenable to any human
tribunal for his conclusions" — also, that " extensive reli
gious combinations to effect a political object are danger
ous" to the state. Let the history of those ill-fated nations,
where national religion has been established, be continually
before our eyes, serving as an awful memento, a beacon-
light for the friends of liberty in this country, to avoid the
rock on which they split. We do not infer from the fact
that because misery has always attended a law-religion,
Christianity is unfriendly to civil liberty, by no means ; but
that an inordinate love of power has caused men in all ages,
at times to throw off the restraints which "pure and unde-
filed religion " impose/ Time will not permit me, as I had
intended, to speak particularly of one other powerful, politi
cal machine, in this country, one which is operating to
strengthen and extend the principles of liberty, or to foster
the germes of tyrannny. I mean the press. That this broad
channel for the information of all ages, and ranks, has
been in some cases grossly corrupted in this country, is
I believe, undisputed and indisputable — to operate this
potent engine against the cause of liberty, must necessa
rily portend the nation's degradation and misery. Does
the proper liberty of the press allow the conductor of it to
publish any thing which will violate either truth or justice .''
I think not. A press without bribery — religion existing
without the aid of civil law — the diffusion of knowledge
without regard to sex, or rank — deference paid to princi
ple rather than to men, comprise the elements of American
liberty and national glory. Principles, or measures, there
fore, tending to corrupt the press — unite Church and State —
perpetuate ignorance, or elevate to power men unworthy
of public confidence, and destitute of integrity, are of
course, subversive of the principles on which our free gov
ernment is founded, and favorable to despotic misrule.

14
May it never, in truth, be said of this nation, " 0 foolish
people, and without understanding ; which have eyes, and
see not ; which have ears, and hear not." But I cease from
Ijoding ill to our country. A passing word to you, — daugh
ters of America : — to you whose i^resence cheers in pros
perity, whose tenderness, sincerity, and affection dry the
tears of adversity. To behold on this day sacred as the
birth-day of freedom, mingled in this crowded assembly,
maternal gravity, youth, gaiety, and beauty, surrounding
the altar of liberty, is matter of unfeigned joy. Prompted
by patriotism, pure and noble as ever fired the human
soul, it was yours, 0 woman ! to tender the tribute of
gratitude in a song of triumph, to the immortal Father of
American liberty.
At the ever memorable bridge of Trenton, which besides
other splendid decorations sustained the " triumphal arch,"
(perhaps an emblem of which you can now behold,*) it
bore on its front the following gilded inscription : — " The
defender of the mothers will be the protector of the daugh
ters" — it was the sincerity and fervour of gratitude in fe
males, joined with the melody of their voices, welcoming
the " Mighty Chief," which caused ^the heart ofthe heroic,
the dauntless Washington, the intrepid warrior, who could
face the cannon's mouth, hear its roar, and see its terrific
blaze, almost unmoved — it was the heart of such a man,
on such an occasion, which was melted within him,
and like Joseph overwhelmed with fraternal tenderness, as
tradition affirms, " he turned and wept."
To you, gentlemen, who appear on this occasion, clad in
the habiliments of war, I have but a word to say. It be
comes you as men, as accountable beings with us, to culti
vate a pacific disposition — " as much as in you lieth, live
peaceably with all men." But should our country be in
vaded by some rapacious foe — to you we look for the secu
rity of our property and lives. It is no part of your duty,
forming as you do, a portion of the soldiery of this Repub
lic, to cringe at the feet of royalty, in order to protect
some monster in human shape against the fury of his op
pressed and insulted subjects. No ! It is to defend fathers,
bosom-companions and prattling infants — to defend integri-
*At one end ofthe Church were standing two stoves, by the union oftheir pipei
was formed a perfect arch, and this arch was beautifully decorated with eTcrgreonj,

15
ty, virtue, innocence, which we ask of you ; and it is sole
ly on the defensive which we expect you to act.
Should our country be endangered — should you be re
quired to unsheath the sword — to take up arms against the
enemies of our liberty, I know not why the words attribu
ted to Marco Bozzaris, the Epaminondas of Modern Greece,
who died in the moment of victory, affirming that " to die
for liberty is a pleasure and not a pain," might not be
righteously employed. During an awful fight with the
Turk — " midst flame and smoke — and shout, arid groan,
and sabre stroke, with voice as of a trumpet, he exclaimed :
Strike — till the last armed foe expires.
Strike — for your altars and your fii-es.
Strike — for the green graves of your sires,
God — and your native land !"
So dear is liberty to man, that even death has been pre
ferred to servitude, which sentiment has been forcibly ex
pressed by that " orator of Nature," Mr. Henry, who in
the opinion of Mr. Jefferson " gave the first impulse to the
ball ofthe Revolution." On a certain occasion he uttered
the following sentence in notes of boldest, loftiest eloquence:
— " Give me liberty, or give me death .'"
I have had no wish, on this occasion, to multiply advo
cates to any political creed, nor to make you Frenchmen
in your feelings or politics : no, nor yet Englishmen ; but
true-hearted, genuine, patriotic Americans. The great
Washington declared to our fathers that Independence and
Liberty " are the work of joint councils, and joint efforts, of
common dangers, sufferings and successes.'''' This is worthy
to be had in everlasting remembrance, and should influence
us to allow sectional interests to give place to Jfational ;
and suffer party names to be lost in the name of Jlmerican.
The people of this country form but one political family,
and should be neighbors and friends. That inhuman traffic
in human bones and sinews, Slavery, that foulest blot upon
our nation's character, we do hope and believe will one day
be washed away — let not the friends of humanity cease their
efforts in a cause so righteous as that of rooting out princi
ples favoring the slave-trade — though centuries should be
required to remove this stain, let us not be discouraged.
In this great nursery, wherein flourish, to a degree unri
valled in the world, agriculture, commerce and manufac
tures — science and letters, is a standing refutation of the

16
maxim that republics possess not suflicient virtue for the
purposes of security and self-government. May it long
continue a refutation of this maxim. Fifty-three years, this
day, have rolled into the shoreless ocean of eternity, since
America " took a stand among the nations of the earth ;"
and to estimate what will be the effects of liberty during
another half-century, baffles all conjecture. A healthful cli
mate, a fertile soil, an immense territory, extending from
the lakes of the north, to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the
shores of the broad ocean, the blue waters of which sur
round us, to yonder still broader one, towards the going
down of the evening star, are ours, — rattached to the Eden of
America. What wealth, numbers and influence, may she
not yet possess !
May the principles of Free Government be yet better un
derstood by our own countrymen, and the elements of ra
tional liberty strike deeper, broader and firmer, that every
American citizen may be as unbending in support of free
dom, as the oak upon his native mountains !
" O long may the banner of Union unfurled.
Triumphantly wave on the ocean and shore ;
May'st thou flourish, my country, the pride of the world.
The home ofthe exile, till time is no more."
May the spark of liberty which has been kindled in this
western world, be yet wafted across the mighty deep, and
there burn with an increasing and glorious light.' " Indeed
the prospect is fair, that the political regeneration, which
commenced in the West, is now going back to resuscitate
the once happy and long deserted regions of the older
world." In Europe the friends of freedom are multiply
ing. The banner of liberty waving on these American
shores, already the light and blessing of millions, we do
hope may yet wave in the Ottoman Empire, throughout
pagan Asia, and over the heads of Africa's enslaved sons ;
when the benevolent effects of science, reason and philoso
phy, the concomitants of liberty, shall extend over the face
of the whole earth, blessing the abodes of man. May truth
prevail, righteousness be established in the earth, aiid man
redeemed from slavery, purified from sin, be admitted
through the mercy of God Almighty, into that Glorious
Temple of Liberty, where he may continue rising higher
and higher in the scale of moral being, growing holier and
happier through every successive age of Immortality

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